


A Second More

by adonais



Category: Switched at Birth (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rare Characters, Rare Pairings, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 00:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3830491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adonais/pseuds/adonais
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many years down the line, Toby Kennish has an unexpected encounter with someone from his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Second More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mierke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/gifts).



> A little birthday present for Mierke. <3

A second more, and Toby Kennish would’ve tried to claim the tail end of his pedestrian rights, and dashed across the street. But as it were, the road has been returned to the drivers, and no matter how late he’s running, the last thing he wants is to be run over a few days short of 38. There have been enough car accidents in his life to last, well, the rest of his life.

So with a sigh, Toby awaits his turn, fidgeting with his watch, his tie, his hold on the leather briefcase with documents that need to be signed, hardly noticing anything but the passing traffic.

Until the stranger by his side says his name in a familiar voice, in an unfamiliar way, and he can barely conceal the shock and surprise in his own response.

“Nikki?”

The word hovers between them, suspended, unheeding the sounds of the city. All he can hear in his ears are the hard consonants of her name befitting of the harder resolve of its owner; all he can hear in his heart is the unrelenting, syncopated drumming of a broken heart that never ceased to mend entirely. Oh, he had moved on, had slept with women, married again, divorced again, had his two children to love and to hold—but Toby Kennish would always have a Nikki-shaped hole that couldn’t be filled by anyone else. He’s now old and wise enough to know he can survive with a damaged heart, as many others have done with theirs, but that knowledge doesn’t shield him from the pain, the sadness, the defeat that rise so quickly upon seeing her again.

She clears her throat, and says, “You look well.”

“You too,” he says, and it’s true—she has matured, deepened, become even more radiant and confident than he’d remembered or imagined. The years have been kind to her—or maybe she has Peru to thank, with its elimination of excess and return to the basics.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she says, a sliver of hesitation sliding its way onto the surface. “I thought you would’ve… Well, I just didn’t expect to see you.”

A decade ago, he would’ve borrowed a page from Bae’s book and replied with something snarky, like “And you thought I’d expected to see you?”, or “You were the one who left”. But Toby Kennish, 37, twice divorced, father of two, simply smiles with a little shrug, just as the light turns green. 

They cross the street together, and Toby feels the tug of time from both directions.

“I’m sorry,” he says when they’ve reached the other side. “I’ve gotta run—I’m managing a new band that’s just landed a record deal, and I always try to be there at least fifteen minutes early. Currently, it’s looking like ten, which feels like a personal and professional travesty.”

He expects her to laugh, as many people do when it comes to this standard he’s somehow developed, but Nikki only studies his face with intense curiosity. Toby swallows, and nods towards where he’s going.

“It was really nice seeing you,” he says, suddenly grateful for having a legitimate reason to go go go, and ruminate about this unexpected encounter much, much later, instead of lingering on the vision of her beautiful face and struggling to maintain his composure, all the while wondering about her personal life, all the while trying to suppress his silent chant, “Could we start again, please? Could we, could we, please please please?”

So he doesn’t wait for an answer, gives her a final nod, and continues where he must go go go, to where he must work work work. Doesn’t expect her to follow him, take his arm, and press something into his hand. Doesn’t expect her soft words, the accompanying look, and what he returns in kind.

A second later, and Nikki has walked away, leaving him with a card in his hands and a smile on his lips.


End file.
